Four gold medals at state level for U9 athlete

Rivah McDonald captured four gold medals as he was among nine Gunnedah athletes competing at the NSW Little Athletics Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre.

Rivah’s coach Maryanne Perkins said it was believed Rivah became the first Gunnedah athlete to win four gold medals at a state athletics championship.

Rivah, Reeva Ceeney and Hope Welsh were in the U9 division, and Stella Geddes was in the U10s while Georgina Grimm was in the U11s as these five athletes competed in the ‘Little Athletics’ category last weekend.

The previous weekend, Gunnedah had Josh Spinks and Ruby Cygan in the U13 division as well as Katie Spinks in the U15s and Jedd McIntosh in the U16s as this quartet was in the ‘Junior’ category.

Competitors from all around NSW were divided into eight regions, with Gunnedah in ‘region 1′.

Jedd placed fourth in steeples while Josh came tenth in high jump, and the other Gunnedah athletes placed in or near the top 20.

One of Gunnedah’s coaches, Andrew Frend, said the Gunnedah athletes excelled and were at their best.

“They all gained much needed experience at this level of competition,” he said.

“Most noticeable was the great sportsmanship and making friends through the competition.”

Meanwhile, Rivah’s parents and grandmother and coach came along last weekend to see the youngster win all of his events.

Rivah’s times were 10.36 seconds in the 70m, 14.24 seconds in the 100m and 30.36 seconds in the 200m, and he leapt 4.2 metres in the long jump.

Rivah’s final times were better than his heat times after the wind adjustments, which were a major focus in his preparation.

There was a photo finish in the 70m final which came down to Rivah’s chest throw which he executed perfectly, before his dominance in the 100m final prompted commentators to mention his “impeccable running style and performance”.

Rivah was in fourth place at the halfway point of the 200m final before powering past the three athletes in front of him, and in the long jump his distance was 16cm greater than the runner-up.

“Rivah’s exceptional performances on the weekend are a result of his natural talent combined with lots of hard work in his preparations for state, and a very disciplined execution over the whole weekend,” Maryanne said.

“It was a big demand with seven different events between all the heats and finals, and he showed great sportsmanship and discipline.

“We are all super proud of how he handled himself and he thoroughly deserves his outstanding results.”

With Rivah having trained with Gunnedah Health & Fitness’ Talented Athlete Program (TAP) for nearly a year, Maryanne said Rivah has shown massive improvements in his technique and ‘event-smarts’.

“Meticulous detail has gone into ensuring he peaked at the right time, and Rivah has followed the plan with maturity beyond his years,” Maryanne said.

Incidentally, the previous Gunnedah athlete to win gold in the 100m at state level was Emma Kennedy who was also coached by Maryanne.